The Marketing Share: What leaders need to know to run marketing

What makes a product brand stand out, scale, and stay true to itself as the business grows? And how can marketing leaders convince the C-suite that investing in brand is an investment in the business?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren chat with Paulie Deary, CMO at AG1, to explore the lessons he’s learned building some of the world’s most recognizable consumer brands, including Uber and YETI.

Paulie shares his journey from agency creative to marketing leader, explaining why marketers need to understand how a business makes money, how to earn the trust of executive teams, and why great creative work starts with understanding the business behind the brand. 

The conversation gets into the challenges of selling brand investment to CFOs, why safe marketing often fails to stand out, and how creative ideas can generate attention without requiring enormous budgets. 

If you’re a CMO, Marketing Director, or marketing leader looking to build a stronger brand, make the case for creative investment, and connect marketing decisions to business outcomes, this episode is for you.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction: Meet Paulie Deary, CMO at AG
02:48 From agency copywriter to CMO
08:39 Why marketers need to understand how the business makes money
14:17 How marketing leaders earn trust and sell ideas to the C-suite
25:04 Creative product launches: How AG1 makes its products stand out
30:06 Why marketers need to stop playing it safe
38:36 Brand energy: A different way to think about marketing performance

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

Marketing teams can spend their time and budget on campaigns, content, and channels without necessarily moving the business forward. So how do you know what deserves your attention, and what actually makes marketing work?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren welcome Dave Mastovich, founder of Mass Solutions and author of No Bullshit Marketing, to explore what marketing leaders need to understand about strategy, messaging, and business growth.

The conversation also tackles the limits of marketing ROI, the challenge of working inside organizations that don't fully understand marketing, and how AI-generated content can leave brands sounding polished but indistinguishable from everyone else.

If you're a CMO, Marketing Director, or first-time marketing leader looking to sharpen your marketing strategy, connect your work to business outcomes, and make smarter decisions about where to focus, this episode is worth your time.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introducing Dave Mastovich
07:50 Taking on tough challenges as a marketing leader
13:25 Why marketers need sales experience and financial acumen
23:45 How to stop busy work and focus on what matters
33:45 Compound messaging: why repetition works
37:45 The hidden cost of generic AI content
40:30 How to make marketing ROI more realistic
47:00 Define marketing by understanding your audience

Connect with Dave Mastovich 

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemastovich/ 
👉 Website: https://massolutions.biz/ 

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

Picture this: your CEO says, “We need to do more on social media.” But what does “more” actually mean? More posts? More followers? More video? More engagement? And most importantly, what is any of it supposed to accomplish for the business?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren talk with Kat O'Leary, founder of Knockout Creative and former social media leader at McKinsey & Company, about how marketing leaders can build a B2B social media strategy that goes beyond simply posting consistently.

Kat breaks down why every social strategy should start with a clear business objective, what social media can realistically accomplish for B2B companies, and why awareness, expertise, and trust can be more meaningful than trying to connect every LinkedIn interaction directly to revenue.

The conversation also gets into what is changing on LinkedIn right now, why executive and employee voices are becoming increasingly important, which social media metrics Kat actually pays attention to, and why marketers shouldn't automatically assume that video is the best-performing format.

And, of course, there's AI. Kat shares why she's cautious about using AI to generate social content, why audiences are increasingly looking for human voices, and how marketing leaders can use AI without handing over the personality and perspective that make their content worth reading in the first place.

If you're a CMO, Marketing Director, or marketing leader wondering whether your company's social media is actually contributing to the business, this conversation will give you a much clearer framework for deciding what to do, what to measure, and what may no longer be worth doing.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Why B2B social media needs a strategy
02:30 Meet Kat O'Leary
07:30 Why human voices are winning on social media
11:30 Your CEO wants “more social.” Now what?
14:00 What should B2B social media actually accomplish?
19:00 The attribution problem with B2B social media
22:00 Why executives matter more on LinkedIn
26:00 Which social media metrics actually matter?
30:00 Is AI generated content hurting your reach?
35:00 How to use AI without losing your voice
38:00 Does video actually work on LinkedIn?
43:00 Social media, GEO and AI discoverability

Connect with Kat O'Leary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenboleary/

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

When someone asks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another LLM for the best solution in your category, does your company show up in the answer?

And if it doesn't, how do you figure out why?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren welcome back marketing consultant David Kirkdorffer for a deep dive into how LLMs are changing brand discoverability and what marketing leaders can actually do about it.

When David joined the podcast in 2025, the conversation focused heavily on the technical side of getting discovered by LLMs, including website structure, schema, citations, and other elements happening behind the scenes. Those things still matter. But as David explains in this conversation, they aren't enough.

The words on the page matter too.

David explains why clear positioning, strategic narrative, and buyer enablement are becoming increasingly important as people turn to LLMs to research products, compare vendors, and make buying decisions. 

Drawing from the frameworks of Andy Raskin, April Dunford, and Hank Barnes, he breaks down how marketers can make it easier for both buyers and LLMs to understand what their company does, who it's for, how it's different, and why its claims should be trusted.

The conversation also gets into a challenge many established brands may not be thinking about yet: their "narrative wake." Old positioning, outdated company descriptions, previous messaging, and third-party listings can continue influencing how LLMs understand a brand long after the company itself has moved on.

If you're a CMO, Marketing Director, or marketing leader trying to understand GEO, AEO, AI search, or how your brand can earn greater visibility in LLM-generated answers, this episode offers a practical way to think about what actually matters.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introducing David Kirkdorffer and the evolution of LLM discoverability
05:00 Why the fundamentals of B2B marketing still matter in AI search
10:00 How the way buyers use LLMs changes what marketers need to communicate
15:00 Buyer enablement and the questions prospects want answered
24:00 Why your brand may not appear when someone searches your category
30:00 The "narrative wake" your old messaging leaves behind
39:00 Keeping your messaging consistent across marketing teams
48:00 What CMOs should prioritize for better AI discoverability
51:00 Schema helps LLMs find you, but your content determines what they can use

Connect with David Kirkdorffer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkirkdorffer/

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

Sales and marketing alignment sounds like an intuitive thing to have in place in a business, but in practice, it can be one of the hardest things for a growing company to get right.

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren talk with Paul Huffman, Chief Revenue Officer at EMP Claims, about what happens when sales and marketing stop working as separate functions and start operating toward the same goals.

Paul shares what marketers need to understand about the sales side of the business, why constant feedback matters, how to identify where the funnel is actually breaking, and why metrics and messaging are two of the most important pieces of the puzzle.

The conversation also explores how AI is changing the way lean teams approach marketing and sales, why you shouldn't try to automate everything, and how Paul is using AI to build more efficient workflows while keeping humans involved where strategic judgment matters most.

If you're a marketing leader or a founder, working to improve sales and marketing alignment, build a leaner team, or create a more effective revenue engine, this episode has plenty to take away.

TIMESTAMPS: 

00:00 Introduction: Aligning Sales and Marketing CRO perspective
02:55 Why sales and marketing struggle to work together
04:06 Why companies often build sales and marketing at different times
07:31 Should sales and marketing report to the same leader?
10:05 What marketers need to understand about sales
18:34 Building the right foundation before using AI
20:19 Using AI to understand customers and manage workflows
24:04 Why sales and marketing need shared definitions and metrics
26:05 Where the sales and marketing funnel actually breaks
27:26 Getting a real feedback loop between sales and marketing
31:53 Why you shouldn't automate everything
39:39 How to diagnose a broken sales and marketing engine
41:08 Metrics + messaging: the key to alignment
41:38 The mistake founders make with their first sales hire
43:16 When fractional and outsourced leadership makes sense

Loved this episode? 

🎧 Subscribe to The Marketing Share Podcast to get unfiltered conversations with marketing leaders about growth, strategy, and the future of digital.

Connect with Paul 
👉 Paul Huffman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-huffman-healthcare/

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

CMOs spend a lot of time talking about marketing performance, but what happens when it’s time to present those results to the board?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren talk with Casey Carey about what CMOs need to keep in mind before they walk into a board meeting.

Casey shares the lessons, the mistakes, and his best approach to presenting marketing results and forecasts to the board successfully.

And he doesn't gatekeep! He also walks through his four-box framework for presenting marketing performance, his six rules for building a board presentation, and why every marketing story should have a clear line of sight to revenue and growth.

If you're a CMO or marketing leader preparing for your next board meeting, there is a lot to take away from this one.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro: board presentations can determine the course of your career
03:00 The biggest mistake CMOs make when presenting to the board
08:30 Understanding your board: financial leaders, operators, and marketers
09:30 Casey’s four box framework for presenting marketing results
14:10 Turning marketing initiatives into a strategic story
15:50 Casey’s six rules for presenting to the board
18:20 How to prepare for a board meeting without making it a quarterly fire drill
21:30 Presenting bad news, attribution, and building credibility with the board
29:30 What boards actually care about: bookings, ARR, and free cash flow
30:55 Which marketing metrics belong in the board conversation?
33:15 Managing aggressive growth expectations with realistic marketing investment
41:00 How AI is changing marketing teams and their economics
43:30 Casey’s advice for marketers: learning, earning, and giving


Loved this episode?

🎧 Subscribe to The Marketing Share Podcast to get unfiltered conversations with marketing leaders about growth, strategy, and the future of digital.

Connect with Casey Carey:
👉LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseykcarey/
👉 Email: [email protected]

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

How do you know where to put your budget, which channels are actually working, and whether you're measuring the right things in the first place?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren talk with Matthew Simpson, founder of Pitch Blend, about what it really takes to build a performance marketing strategy that connects to the bigger picture of the business.

Matthew has spent his career on both sides of the table, working in-house and at agencies. He brings that perspective to a conversation about what agencies often misunderstand about marketing leaders, why performance marketing needs a strong foundation behind it, and why "set it and forget it" is a myth.

The conversation gets into some of the questions marketers are constantly trying to answer: How much should you actually spend on paid media? Which channels make sense for B2B? How do you know when a campaign isn't working? 

If you're responsible for paid media, performance marketing, demand generation, or marketing strategy, this episode is packed with ideas for making better decisions with your budget, your data, and your channels.

TIMESTAMPS: 

00:00 Meet Matthew Simpson
02:15 What agencies misunderstand about marketing leaders
07:05 Can paid media actually work for B2B?
11:44 How Matthew approaches paid media
13:36 What to do when your paid media isn't working
16:13 Three ways to find the right marketing insight
21:48 Why “set it and forget it” is a myth
28:21 Smarter decisions with a limited media budget
34:14 The problem with multi-channel attribution
42:08 Performance marketing can increase business value

Loved this episode? 

🎧 Subscribe to The Marketing Share Podcast to get unfiltered conversations with marketing leaders about growth, strategy, and the future of digital.

Connect with our guest: 
👉Matthew Simpson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/directmarketing/
👉 Pitchblende: https://www.pitchblende.net/

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

Sooner or later, every marketing leader will have to guide their organization through a major change.

Whether it's repositioning a brand, launching a new product, or helping a company navigate growth, those moments require much more than a solid marketing strategy. They demand alignment, trust, and the ability to bring the entire organization along for the journey.

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren are joined by Lauren Esposito, CMO at Asymbl and former marketing leader at Salesforce, to explore what it really takes to lead marketing during periods of transformation.

Lauren has an incredible track record of leading product and brand initiatives at one of the world's most recognizable technology companies. From that experience, she shares how successful CMOs balance long-term brand building with business outcomes, communicate change internally, and help customers understand why change matters in the first place.

Throughout the conversation, Lauren also covers other important topics to keep in mind: 

• The importance of customer centricity
• Cross-functional leadership
• Building trust across the organization

If you're a CMO, VP of Marketing, or an aspiring marketing executive leading a company through growth or transformation, this episode is a must-listen.

Timestamps: 

00:00 Introduction
02:15 Meet Lauren Esposito and her journey from Salesforce to Asymbl
06:40 Why brand transformation is never just a marketing project
11:20 Leading brand changes inside large organizations
16:45 Building alignment across marketing, product, sales, and leadership
21:35 Keeping customers at the center during periods of change
26:50 Balancing long term brand building with short term business goals
31:40 How marketing leaders earn credibility inside the executive team
36:55 Lessons Lauren brought from Salesforce into her CMO role
42:10 Advice for marketers preparing for executive leadership

Loved this episode? 

Connect with Lauren over LinkedIn and tell her you came from The Marketing Share Podcast!

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

The million-dollar question right now is this: what separates memorable content from the growing flood of AI-generated marketing? That's exactly what this episode explores.

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren talk with David J. Ebner, founder of Content Workshop, about why human-led content is more important than ever in today's marketing landscape.

Throughout the conversation, David explains why the customer should always be the hero of the story, how marketers can use AI without sacrificing quality, and why producing more content isn't the same as creating better content.

He also shares practical advice on evaluating content quality, building AI workflows that actually work, adapting content strategies for AI search, and deciding what content should and shouldn't be gated.

If you've been wondering how content marketing is changing in the age of AI, or how your content can stand out in an ocean of sameness, this episode is for you.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to David J. Ebner and Content Workshop
 02:00 From creative writing to content marketing
 04:00 Why customers should be the hero of your story
 07:00 What "story first marketing" actually means
 09:00 How to recognize great content
 12:00 Fighting the sea of AI generated content
 16:00 The ROI conversation around AI and content teams
 20:00 How marketers should really use AI
 24:00 Building AI workflows that improve quality
 26:00 Why more content doesn't mean better results
 30:00 How AI search is changing content strategy
 33:00 Should marketers still gate content?
 39:00 Informational vs educational content
 44:00 The most important lesson for marketers today
 46:00 David's final advice and where to connect

🎧 Subscribe to The Marketing Share Podcast to get unfiltered conversations with marketing leaders about growth, strategy, and the future of digital.

Connect with our guest: 
👉David J Ebner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjebner/
👉 Content Workshop: https://contentworkshop.com/

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you. 

What does it actually take for marketing to earn influence inside a business?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren talk with Saurabh Kothari about one of the biggest challenges modern marketing leaders face: proving impact while building alignment across sales, product, and leadership teams.

Drawing from his experience leading marketing across enterprise organizations, agencies, and high-growth companies, Saurabh shares why marketing cannot operate in isolation anymore and why the best CMOs know how to combine data, storytelling, and persuasion to move the business forward.

The conversation explores the tension many marketers still feel with sales teams, why attribution alone rarely tells the full story, and how marketing leaders can better communicate their value internally.

They also unpack the balance between creativity and analytics in modern B2B marketing, what makes certain marketing leaders more influential than others, and why strong communication is often the difference between a marketing team that gets ignored and one that drives strategic decisions.

If you work in B2B marketing, lead generation, demand generation, or marketing leadership, this episode offers a practical look at how modern CMOs think about growth, influence, and business alignment.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
02:17 Meet Saurabh Kothari
05:12 Why marketing and sales often misalign
09:46 The challenge of proving marketing impact
14:03 The balance between creativity and data
18:27 Why persuasion matters in marketing leadership
22:41 Building stronger alignment across teams
27:18 What modern CMOs need to prioritize
31:54 The role of storytelling inside organizations
36:22 Why attribution alone is not enough
40:11 Final thoughts and advice for marketing leaders

🎧 Subscribe to The Marketing Share Podcast to get unfiltered conversations with marketing leaders about growth, strategy, and the future of digital.

Connect with our guest: 
👉 Sourabh Kothari: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sourabhkothari/

Connect with the hosts:
👉 Barb VanSomeren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbvansomeren/
👉 Alec Cheung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleccheung/

Connect with the Podcast Manager
👉 Cinthya Zeledón: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinthyazeledon/

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast?  Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to [email protected], and our Podcast Manager will get back to you.